Perry Indicted for Being Governor

What’s going on in Texas? Fox News reports that Governor Rick Perry was indicted after he “threatened to veto $7.5 million over two years for the public integrity unit, which is run by Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg’s office. The governor wanted Lehmberg, a Democrat, to resign after she was arrested and pleaded guilty to drunken driving in April 2013. When she refused, Perry vetoed the money.” So, in other words, Perry, the governor, whose job entails signing and vetoing legislation, vetoed legislation funding a “public integrity unit” run by a drunk driver. I have very little idea what this “public integrity unit” does, but might it be a reasonable guess that the best person to run it isn’t someone who admitted to drunk driving? It seems to me that Perry has been indicted for acting on his authority as governor. (I only wish we Coloradans could indict John Hickenlooper for not using his veto power nearly often enough.) This indictment seems totally bizarre to me. But this is only my initial reaction; perhaps I’m missing some nuance of the case and, on further evaluation of the evidence, I’ll reach a different conclusion—but I can’t imagine why I might. For reference, here’s the indictment and the (brief) response of Perry’s attorney. The New York Times also has a report.